Ford Assembly Line, 1902
Companies in the second industrial revolution started to build assembly lines to maximize production. Ford Motor Company, which was one of the leading company at the time, established many assembly lines. The led to fast production and more profit to the Ford Motor Company. Vertical and horizontal integration started to happen as wealth started to accumulate to certain companies and there were not many regulations. The assembly line also damaged traditional skilled workers as working in the assembly line does not require high-end skills. Ford also raised worker salary significantly, provided the foundation for the American Middle class.
Photo from The Collection of Henry Ford.
This is a photo of a classroom in Ford English School taken on July 4, 1917. The photographer is not stated in the source. The huge trend of immigration brought the US a huge number of labors. English language ability is required to make immigrant workers be more productive and safer. Ford Motor Company established the Ford English School to teach immigrant workers who are mainly from Europe English. From1901-1914. some 13million European Immigrant mainly from Italy, Russia, Austin-Hungarian Empire entered the U.S.
Photo Taken By Jacob Riis in 1912
The rapid growth of the economy also brought the uneven distribution of wealth. In the 1900s, most immigrant labors lived in lower east NYC. The area held more than 2 million tenants at the time and it is impoverished and dangerous. The infant mortality rate reached 1:10. The small tenements generally had no electricity or inside toilets. We can see from the picture that workers sometimes live and work in the small tenement. Jacob Riis, the photo taker, also published a book called ‘How the other half lives’ in 1890.
Rosevelt Theodore’s speech of “On American Motherhood”
This is a speech given by the president of the United States at the time, Theodore Roosevelt on Mar 13th, 1905. Its purpose is to convey information to the general public. The information is that female should not forget to take care of housework while the fast-developing economy requires a male to work during the day. This also reflects the development of feminism and the growing number of female labors.